Uncle Zuko
by TheGovernorsDaughter
Summary: Jinora follows her Father to the Fire Nation so she can talk to the Fire Lord.


"A little girl has requested to speak with you, Fire Lord Zuko," a guard said, popping his head into the throne room.

"A little girl? Why would a little girl want to speak with me?" the old man replied. He was just over eighty and he was long due to die. His wife was gone, and his son was completely ready to take over the throne. But the universe was not kind. While all his friends had died when their time had come, he had to sit in agony every day and wonder when he would be allowed to fall asleep and not awaken.

"I haven't the slightest idea. She showed up in the palace – I don't even know how – and requested to speak with you. There was no parent or guardian with her, no one," the guard replied. "And she wasn't the least bit intimidated by me or the other guards."

The Fire Lord sighed. "Send her in."

The large doors opened and a little girl walked in. She had brown hair with some sort of bizarre topknot along with brown eyes and the light pale-pinkish skin of an air nomad. She looked a bit familiar. Kind of like she had to be related to…

"You're Aang's granddaughter! Tenzin's eldest!" Zuko smiled tiredly.

"Wow," the little girl said in awe. "How'd you know?"

"You look rather like him," Zuko chuckled. "But much prettier."

The girl grinned.

"Remind me again – I really should know – but, what's your name, again?" he asked.

"Jinora. My name's Jinora. And my little sister's Ikki and my little brother's Meelo," Jinora told the Fire Lord.

Zuko found himself smiling at the adorable little airbender staring up at him, but found a small problem in the situation. "What are you doing here, Jinora? Where's your father?"

"Daddy's here to do some work with the Fire Nation police force. You told him they were interested in studying the art of metalbending."

"That doesn't answer my first question."

Jinora shifted nervously. "You have to understand, I had to come and see you, Uncle Zuko. I've never met you before and I have so many questions about the Hundred Year War and about Grandfather, and Uncle Sokka and Auntie Suki, and about Aunt Toph. Did you know she passed a few weeks ago? I got to see her a lot, though. But I've never gotten to see you before. And I have to ask you so…"

"Get on with it," Zuko said.

"I just wanted see you, but I might have kind of sort of in a way maybe perhaps hidden under Oogi's saddle…" Jinora said, twiddling her thumbs and shifted her weight to her left foot.

"You hid under a bison's saddle? You could have died!" Zuko said, standing up, despite how tired and in pain he was. "I'm going to get a guard. You're going back to your father and then to Republic City."

Jinora looked about ready to scream. All she wanted was to get to meet the great Fire Lord Zuko, the man who rose from the ashes of his past to become the greatest leader in Fire Nation history, and all she was getting was a scolding. Her face was scrunched up and bright red. He eyes were becoming watery and the six-year-old suddenly plopped onto the ground and started to cry. _"I. DON'T. WANNA!" _ She sat sobbing and screaming on the ground for a good few minutes until the Fire Lord worked his way down to where the little girl was sitting. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Jinora, but you have to go back to Republic City. Your mother's probably worried sick." He smiled warmly towards her and held her hand, but she stood straight up and looked down at him.

"No," she said defiantly. "You're not the boss of me! I don't care that you're the Fire Lord! I'm a citizen of the United Republic, and not the Fire Nation. So I'm not going anywhere!"

Zuko sighed and signaled one of the guards in the corner of the room. "Find Tenzin and tell him that him that his six-year-old daughter is in the palace." The guarded walked off. "So, Jinora, what did you want to ask me about," he asked, still sitting on the ground.

Jinora's face was still red and her cheeks were still wet from her tears, but she smiled a little. "Okay, Uncle Zuko. First, tell me about my Grandfather. Was he a lot like me?"

"Not really. He was wacky and silly, not studious and sweet, like you are. I'd say you're more like your Grandmother, Katara. She was a great friend of mine," Zuko said, looking off in memory. "Yes, she was very curious and kind. Have you met her?"

"Not yet," Jinora said. "But I've heard a lot about her. My Daddy loves her very much. Now, tell me about Uncle Sokka and Auntie Suki."

"Didn't you get to meet them?" Zuko asked. They had both passed a couple of years ago, but they had lived right outside of Republic City.

"Of course, but I was very young."

"You still are," the Fire Lord said. Jinora giggled at him. "Anyhow, they were the perfect pair. Sokka was ridiculous and sarcastic, but Suki…she put him right in his place." Zuko laughed at the memory. "One time, for example, Sokka was making a fire once, and he told Suki…oh, that was a good story."

Jinora didn't ask for the rest of the story. She just asked her next question. "Do you know who the next Avatar is yet?"

Zuko nodded. "A southern water tribe girl. She's being trained by Katara, your grandmother, I hear."

Jinora just stood there.

"Any other questions?" he asked.

She pinched at her hair nervously. "It's a bit…personal."

"Anything."

"Thank you, Uncle Zuko. It's just…did you really start off as an ENEMY of my grandfather's?" she asked with a squeaky, quiet voice.

Zuko stood up solemnly. "Jinora, people are never all good and all evil. Even you, and certainly even me. I did used to be Aang's enemy. I used to try to capture him. Three years I spent chasing him. But that didn't make me a bad person. There was a reason I thought I had to chase him, and I'll be sure to tell you when you get older. For now, though, just know that I became his friend, and I became a different person. A good person. Okay, Jinora?"

Jinora smiled. "I know you're a good person, Uncle Zuko." And then she reached out, to Zuko's surprised, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

And Zuko just kind of laughed.

Jinora pulled away after a few moments and smiled up at her "Uncle" Zuko. Now, Zuko had a question for her. "Why do you call me "Uncle" Zuko? We're not related."

"Yes, we are!" the little girl argued. Then, she started concentrating. "You're my, uhm…father's…father's…spiritual…great-grandfather…or something. But it doesn't matter, anyway. We are related, because we're best friends forever now. Right, Uncle Zuko?"

Zuko smiled. "Of course we are."

The large doors at the front of the throne room opened with a loud _slam_.

"Jinora!" a loud voice boomed. "How _dare _you come to the Fire Nation without my permission? I specifically told Pema you were to stay home! How did you get here, anyhow!"

"I rode under Oogi's sadle…" Jinora said quietly.

"You _what?" _ Tenzin screeched. "You could have gotten hurt! And, besides that, you bothered the Fire Lord! Hasn't he got better things to do than talk to a six-year-old girl?" Tenzin turned to his father's friend and bowed. "Fire Lord Zuko, my apologies. I'm so sorry my daughter has interrupted you…"

"No, Tenzin, there's no need to apologize to me. Your daughter is a delight. I'm sorry she worried you, though," Zuko smiled Tenzin.

Tenzin sort of smiled back. "We'd best be on our way. Good day, Fire Lord Zuko."

"See you soon, Tenzin. I trust you're heading back to our great city?"

"Of course. I have to tell Pema that Jinora's not _dead _as soon as possible." He turned back to his daughter. "You'll be in such trouble when we get home, young lady, so you better enjoy the time we take until we get back. It'll be the last time you're ever off the island."

"But Daddy!" Jinora whined.

"No buts. You're in so much trouble."

As they left, Jinora looked over her shoulder towards Zuko.

"Bye, Jinora," he said, grinning at her. "I'll be sure to tell you someday all about how I came to be friends with your grandfather."

"Bye, Uncle Zuko," she replied. "I'll be sure to come hear about it someday."

As they exited the palace, Tenzin shook his head at his daughter. "Fire Lord Zuko will be around for many more years. Why did you have to put yourself in danger to ask him a few questions?"

**Two Days Later**

"Dada, Dada, Dada!" yelled little Ikki. "Hawky, Hawky, Hawky!" She pointed at a messenger hawk swooping down from the sky. The hawk carried more scrolls than one usually did – it held four.

When the hawk landed beside her, Ikki grabbed the scrolls and said a quick, "Thank you!" to the hawk, though it sounded more like, "Tank goo." Then, the bird ran off.

"Who are those for, Ikki?" Pema asked her daughter.

"Jinama read!" Ikki said, utilizing her nickname for her sister. Jinora, smiling, took the scrolls.

"These two scrolls are intelligence reports for Dad," Jinora said. She could already read at an advanced level, and she handed the scrolls to her dad.

"They're from the Fire Nation!" Tenzin exclaimed, surprised.

"But weren't you just there yesterday, Tenzin?" Pema asked. "Why couldn't they have told you this then?"

Tenzin shrugged, not knowing. Then, he opened the first scroll. "Fire Lord Zuko passed away peacefully in his sleep the evening of the 27th." He swallowed sharply. "That was the same day I was there."

"But, Tenzin, I thought you spoke with him!" Pema said, confused.

"I did. He must have died later…" Tenzin trailed off. "Well, anyhow, I'm sure he's perfectly content. His wife, friends and family have already passed, and he was getting rather old." Pema nodded. "Now," he continued. "Onto the next message." He opened the scroll. "As I expected. It's simply announcing that Iroh, Zuko's son, is going on to become the Fire Lord." Tenzin sat down at the table. "Well, may he serve a long and successful term." Jinora and Pema nodded in agreement.

"The next message is from Chief Bei Fong. She's demanding funds for her police force," Jinora said.

"Get rid of it. Chief Bei Fong can get her own funds." Jinora aribended the message straight out of the window.

"The last message is…for me!" Jinora said, sitting up a little. "From the palace!"

"Really? What does it say?" Pema asked.

"What it says, Jinama?" Ikki said, trying to imitate her mother.

"It says, _'Jinora, I decided to record the story of how I met your grandfather just in case I don't get to see you again…'_" Jinora put the scroll down. "No, I'm not going to read it now."

"Why not?" Pema asked.

"Zuko said he would tell me the story when I got older. I want to stay true to his wishes. I'll read it later. I think I'll understand it better," Jinora said.

"I think that would be best," Tenzin said, hugging his daughter.

**Three Years Later**

"_Hey," _Jinora whispered. "_Hey! Korra!"_

Korra woke up groggily. "Yeah?" she whispered back. Jinora pointed to a box in the corner of the room full of books. Korra's new room had been Jinora's when she was five and six, and still contained many of her old things. This box held many books she couldn't read when she was younger, but was ready to read now. Korra, smiling tiredly at the young airbender, grabbed the box and walked it over to Jinora. "Get some sleep, kiddo. Don't stay up all night reading." Jinora nodded.

Jinora took the box back to her room and went through it looking for the best book to read. Towards the bottom of the box, though, she felt something that seemed out of place. Bare, wrinkled parchment. A scroll. She pulled it out and opened it. And as soon as she read the first sentence, she knew which story she'd be indulging in tonight.

_Jinora, I decided to record the story of how I met your grandfather just in case I don't get to see you again…_

_**結束**_


End file.
